1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in cutting and splicing devices and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a device for cutting a continuous web of material at substantially precisely preselected positions on the web to provide relatively short pieces and winding the short pieces onto a storage roll.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In many instances, it is desirable to sever a continuously moving web of material into relatively short predetermined lengths whereby the severed short lengths may be wound onto a suitable storage roll for facilitating handling of the material. For example, in the movie industry, the houses wherein a movie is to be shown normally receives the film as stored on a plurality of film reels, each having approximately two thousand feet of film wound or stored thereon. The plurality of short lengths of film must be spliced together into a single continuous strip or web for projection thereof with the usual movie projection equipment. When the "run" of the movie at one particular movie house has expired and the film is to be shipped or otherwise transported to the next movie house wherein the film is to be shown, the continuous strip of film must be cut apart into lengths of approximately two thousand feet and rewound on the storage reels for shipment. Normally this procedure requires that the movie house personnel, such as the projectionist, remain after the last showing of the film for approximately three hours, depending, of course, on the length of the entire movie contained on the film strip, for running the film through the usual presently available apparatus for cutting the film into the desired lengths and rewinding the two thousand foot lengths of film onto the shipping reels. The disadvantages of this method and means of cutting the continuous film strip into the required shorter lengths and rewinding the severed film sections onto the shipping reels will be apparent. In addition, when a film strip has been repeatedly cut and spliced, it is difficult to realign the spliced sections of the film strip in such a manner that continuity of the film is maintained, and after many such operations, some of the frames of the film may be completely lost, or at least distorted, which interferes with the desirable showing of the film.